There are two categories that you can fall
into...
1. Home Use
Measuring your own blood pressure at home. This decision will
be fairly straight forward and this article will hopefully
assist you in making that decision. We'll cover a few options
that should be beneficial.
2. Clinical Use
If you're in the health industry, you probably already know
what you want, or know the criteria that has to be met by
the successful candidate. Whether its a digital monitor or
an aneroid sphygmomanometer, you'll be able to use the resources
that we've provided here, in this article.
Home Use
Let's have a look at the different types of
blood pressure monitors that can be considered for home use...
Digital Manual Monitors - Digital monitors
automatically measures the diastolic and systolic blood pressure
and then displays the results on an LCD monitor. Manually
speaking, you'll need to pump the cuff yourself. It provides
you with the instructions as to how much to inflate it, but
is slightly inconvenient.
Digital Automatic Monitors - Identical
to the above descriptions, except that the machine will inflate
the cuff for you. Once the cuff has been placed on your arm,
all you need to do is press a button and then wait for the
results. Obviously, digital automatic monitors are among the
most popular types of blood pressure monitors for the home.
The Automatic Wrist Monitors are exactly the same as
the digital automatic monitor, except that the cuff is placed
on the wrist, rather than the upper arm. Although easier to
use because it is on the wrist, it is also more expensive.
Automatic Finger Monitors - Similar
to the above, automatic monitors, you can measure your blood
pressure by placing your finger in a small plastic tube that
is attached to the machine. Although incredibly convenient,
the automatic finter monitor may not be quite as reliable
as the above monitors. A much weaker blood flow reaches your
finger, compared to your upper arm and wrist, which may result
in readings that are not entirely accurate or repeatable.
The digital automatic monitor is your best choice
if you're looking for easy use. If you think that placing
the cuff on your upper arm may be difficult, the wrist monitor
is then your best choice. However, if money is a factor, you
can save about $30.00 if you buy the manual inflation monitor,
which is not that much of an inconvenience.
Now that you have a clearer understanding of
the differences between the blood pressure monitors, let's
discuss some sample monitors, and where you can find them...
If you don't separate them by type, you could
spend anywhere between $40.00 upwards of $200.00, for a blood
pressure monitor. $40.00 being the manual inflation monitor,
$70.00 and up for the automatic inflation monitors, and then
$120.00 and up for the wrist monitors.
Omron
Manual Inflation Monitor
As the leading supplier of blood pressure monitors for the
home, Omron is a well established brand within the medical
equipment industry. Their machine is digital, but it requires
you to inflate the cuff manually. The price for this specific
monitor is $41.80.
Omron
Automatic Inflation Monitor
This is Omron's lowest priced fully automatic blood pressure
monitor. Priced under $75.00, it is probably the best buy
for most at home users.
Portable
Wrist Monitor
The easiest to use, and fully automatic, the Omron protable
wrist monitor is the ultimate in functionality. The monitor
sites on top of the cuff, making it ideal if you have trouble
placing the cuff on your upper arm with one hand. At just
above $100.00, you'll have to decide if the easy functionality
is worth the extra money.
Omron
Finger Monitor
Despite the arument over the accuracy of the finger monitor,
in comparison to its traditional counterparts, some are drawn
to the portablility option and how easy it is to use. At $100.00
the wrist monitor is probably the better buy.
It should save you money to buy a blood
pressure monitor on line, but many on line retailers are no
less expensive than the street merchants these days. However,
there are still some places, on line, where you can get 10-15%
off retail, and street retail, prices. Web sites like Vitalitymedical.com.
This site generally sells BP monitors about 10-15% below retail
price and also offers easy ordering and great customer care.
Clinical Use
Many health professionals choose the reliability
of the aneroid or mercury sphygmomanometer.
If you work in the health idustry and want
something more specialized, you may want to try the web site,
AllHeart.com. This site seems to have the most complete and
comprehensive range of sphygmomanometers. Their products include
Welch allyn, Nurse Mates, Heine, and Baumanometer. Pediatric
Sphygmomanometers can also be found at AllHeart.com.
Click
here to visit Allheart.com
Now, even if you are in the market for a blood
pressure monitor, for clinical use, you may still want the
easy to use electronic blood pressure monitor. Omron also
offers a higher quality machine, designed for commercial use,
but does not offer it at commercial prices. It can be found
for a reasonable price.
Click here for Omron IntelliSense Blood Pressure Monitors
